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31 August, 2012

The Body Shop always draws me in with their window displays. This time it was their new LE Lily Cole makeup collection with its soft spring palette of peach, pink and lilac - right up my alley!

UK model Lily Cole is the new brand advocate for The Body Shop and the face of their Against Animal Testing campaign (I am aware that while The Body Shop brand do not use animal products and don't test on animals they are owned by L'Oreal who do have question marks over their cruelty-free status - just making you aware of that just in case you didn't already know).

Getting back to point of this post, what did I choose? Whilst I played with the rather cutely packaged Puff On Radiance highlighting pearls in store, I passed it over - because I found the fluffy puff applicator just too messy - in favour of these other spring inspired products:

L - R:

Shimmer Cubes Palette: 24

Lip & Cheek Dome: 21 Crazy for Coral

Shimmer Cubes Palette: 24

Shades clockwise from top left:

Think Pink, Live Lilac, Tint it Pink, Go Violet

Swatched L - R:

Tint it Pink, Go Violet, Think Pink, Live Lilac

These soft pink/lilac shimmer cube colours are sooo pretty and I especially like Think Pink and Live Lilac! Okay, admittedly the pigmentation is medium at best but I'd happily use these just for a casual wash of all over lid colour. The cubes are very generous as each holds 3.5g of colour which means they will probably last me forever... The other feature I like is the cubes are separately sealed so I can toss just 1 or 2 into my makeup bag which makes them very travel friendly.

Don't you just love a good gimmick? I still do! This was the no-brainer, knew I was going to get it all along, purchase. When I first saw the Lip & Cheek Dome on a UK beauty blog months ago I immediately thought, "How novel! How cute! Must have that!!" Guess that's because we STILL haven't got Maybelline's Dream Bouncy blushes down here!!! The SA tried a little on my cheeks instore and I loved how creamy it felt and how well it blended. It's not shimmery so it's quite natural and subtle, and another cute and casual weekend product. It doesn't have a discernible scent or taste, and it applies quite matte on the lips. I feel a bit weird with matte peachy lips personally so I'll apply a gloss over the top. This is another travel-friendly product and is securely packaged with a clear plastic screw top lid.

These products are both LE and are available from Body Shop stores and online until the end of September. The Shimmer Cubes palettes are $40.95AUD and the Lip & Cheek Domes are $28.95AUD each.

30 August, 2012

As promised, here's another swatch from OPI's recently released Germany collection.

Unfor-Greta-bly Blue (what a tongue-twister of a name!) is another of the jewel toned metallics in the collection and sat high on my polish radar. And jewel toned it is indeed as OPI has described this rich, deep blue as "brilliant sapphire". What I also love about this polish is the added dimension of colour with an ever so subtle hint of teal. This is 3 coats of colour with top coat for added shine:

Sun

Shade

Lamplight

On a random note, I just noticed that yesterday's post was my 501st! Wow, that's a lot of rambling to you all, and I've loved every bit of it! :)

29 August, 2012

I've got a few more OPI Germany swatches ready to post but I thought up break it up with a random swatch from a brand I'm not really familiar with - Borghese.

I spotted bottles of Borghese Rapido polish on sale at the discount beauty stall in the concourse at Southern Cross station in Melbourne, which I pass every day on my way to and from work (dangerous)! Violetto was the most interesting colour to try out and for 4 or 5 bucks why not? This is a very cool toned silvery violet metallic polish which was a little finicky to apply. After 2 coats I could still see some sheer patches so I applied 3, and on some nails 4(!), coats to get a fully opaque coverage. Good news is it lived up to its Rapido name and dried quickly enough, so when I applied it before bed I didn't wake up to the dreaded sheet imprints! Also, it wasn't horribly streaky as I'd feared it could have been.

I was a bit afraid that this shade would be unflattering but I think I carried it off. It's an interesting shade of purple but I'm just about ready to start trying more spring appropriate colours as the sun starts to reappear...

28 August, 2012

Dove's Silky Nourishment is my current pot of body moisturizing indulgence which I received as part of a Priceline skin care pack a few months ago. I'd never tried it before and I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying it - any excuse and I'm slathering it on. Without further ado let's get into my rave review!

These pictures are just about life size - look at that great big tub!

I'm always using some form of body moisturiser so by now I've identified what my needs/wants are in a body cream or lotion. I want it to be rich and obviously moisturising, but I don't want it to be too rich to glide over my skin for easy all-over body coverage - tick! I'm usually in a hurry in the mornings so I'm going to want quick absorption - tick! - and I want soft skin, but I don't want it to feel greasy - tick! Finally, for an everyday moisturiser I want a soft, subtle fragrance which won't clash with my perfume - again, tick! The lovely, very subtle fragrance fades away and I just smell like a nice(er) version of me!

Every time I look at the contents of that pot I just want to dive right in!

You can see this cream achieves the balance of richness and lightness at the same time. It reminds me of lightly whipped cream - you, know the 'soft peak' which just holds its shape.

According to Dove, this Silky Nourishment Body Cream feels silky and indulgent because it actually contains "...pure silk, contained within Dove's rich, creamy moisturisers" . I love it because, yes, it feels indulgent, yet at less than $10AUD for a generous sized tub I can slather away to my heart's content without hurting my wallet.

Pros:

Richly moisturising and feels like a more luxe product

Great coverage, a little dollop glides a long way over the skin

Can be applied on shower damp skin and absorbs quickly and easily

Non-greasy

Good value at just under $10AUD for a 300ml tub

Pleasant, subtle fragrance that won't clash with perfume

Cons:

Packaging - a tub won't be suitable for those who don't enjoy sticking their fingers into product!

Again, packaging - the large tub takes up a lot of bench space and isn't travel-friendly

26 August, 2012

Suzi & the 7 Dusseldorfs was the first polish which caught my eye from OPI's new Germany Collection and I couldn't wait to wear it!

OPI describes this bright metallic purple as a red-violet and this shade has an obvious red undertone to it. The red adds a subtle warmth to this purple polish making it a very flattering shade to wear so there are no dead hands here! I'm an unapologetic purple fan so of course I'll tell you I love this polish. This is two coats with top coat, although I would recommend three coats for a perfectly even coverage.

25 August, 2012

I was more excited than usual when I saw the recently released OPI Germany Collection promos and over the moon when I saw the colours IRL! Now I never buy entire collections but with these rich metallic colours I was not going to hold back. I got pretty close - well, I now own 7 of the 12 shades, and 4 of them are mini's so it's still a somewhat controlled indulgence...

Lined up on the windowsill - yes, another gloomy old day I need to apologise for.

(I didn't bother with any swatches for that very reason)

Let's take a slightly closer look at the bottles, starting with my full size picks. I chose metallics - I love deep metallic shades!

L - R:

German-icure by OPI

Every Month is Oktoberfest

Deutsche You Want Me Baby

German-icure and Every Month is Oktoberfest look indistinguishable in these pictures but German-icure is a warm brown shimmer while EMIO is more of a dark purple-red shimmer. Lovely and different enough IRL to justify owning both. Deutsche You Want Me Baby is something a little different in my collection so of course I had to have it! It's a vivid burnt orange metallic - I'm sure this one's going to make an impact when I wear it.

Now, onto the minis. Here are the shades in the Germinis collection. A nice even mix of cremes and metallics.

L -R:

Don't Pretzel My Buttons

Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!

Unfor-Greta-bly Blue

Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs

I can see myself wearing all of these. Of the cremes Don't Pretzel My Buttons is a warm toned beige which works well against my skin tone and Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! is a cool dark grey which makes for an interestingly edgy neutral. It was the metallics that caught my attention first of course: Un-For-Greta-bly Blue is a medium-dark metallic blue, and Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs (my favourite) is a gorgeous red toned metallic purple.

The Germany Collection is one of my favourite OPI collections of late so I'm happy to have got my hands on these.

22 August, 2012

Happy Hump Day lovelies! I'm always happy to get the first half of the week out of the way :)

I wore this polish to go with a special outfit last Saturday night but straight up I've got to tell you it was a disappointment. Australian fashion chain Witchery bring out seasonal nail polish and makeup collections to coordinate with their clothes and accessories and I bought Bronze to match a silk shirt I'd bought on sale at the same time. So, the plan was this polish would accent beautifully with my new shirt, and another rust coloured knit dress in my wardrobe. However...Bronze is lighter than I expected which makes it look more rose gold than bronze which is still okay-ish BUT it was very thick and brush-strokey. This metallic polish just didn't work for me. Not loving this one unfortunately.

21 August, 2012

I'll make this a balanced review but of course I was initially quite excited about finally getting this TF palette off my wishlist and into my possession....

Let's get the gratuitous packaging shots out of the way first. Now there's pretty packaging and there's sleek packaging - this is definitely in the latter category. I guess you'd expect nothing less of anything associated with the sleek and tasteful Mr Ford. The palette is encased in a very simple mahogany package with the only sign of opulence being the stamped gold lip at the opening end. I suppose another sign this is one serious palette is its size and weight. Considering it's a quad this compact is hardly compact as it is about the same size and weight of my smartphone! Another interesting feature is the magnetic fastening which is also a nice subtly classy touch. Of course this rather large compact also includes a rather large mirror stamped with 'Tom Ford' at its base.

Included in the palette are two applicators, and while handy for traveling, I've become accustomed to using my own brushes so it's likely these babies are going to stay in their pristine condition.

According to official Tom Ford website the eye color quads are, "...the centerpiece of the Tom Ford color collection. Each Eye Color Quad is designed with four opulent complementing shades that achieve multiple looks, from a bold, smokey eye, to a sexy slash of color and everything in between. Formulated with advanced color processes, the four luxurious finishes—sheer sparkle, satin, shimmer and matte—offer a spectrum of intensity and effects and deliver incredible shade fidelity and outstanding adhesion."

Silvered Topaz

While my purple biased eye was initially drawn to Crushed Amethyst I chose Silvered Topaz as a cool toned neutral palette I could get more mileage from. Clockwise from top left the shades are a sparkly champagne beige, satin green/grey, matte cocoa brown and shimmery taupe.

The sales assistant assured me that each of the colour pans are quite deep and contain around 2.5g of product so this should last a while. In terms of price these quads are a very steep $100AUD but put into context with another luxe brand this equates to a $2 difference to the equivalent Chanel product as Chanel quads currently retail at $98AUD. Yes, yes, it's still expensive whichever way you look at it...

So, does it live up to claims about pigmentation? In most cases yes as shown by the swatches below. I swatched these with a brush onto bare skin and was quite impressed with how three out of four of them performed, however the sparkle shade did take a bit of layering to build up the coverage. These are great colours if you're after a cool neutral combo and I like the variety of finishes which makes this suitable for day or night looks.

I've used the quad only once so far, and wore all colours for an evening smokey eye look. I was impressed at the overall intensity and the shadows wore all evening without any creasing. The only issue I had (and I'll admit to a little disappointment) was some minor fallout of the sparkle shade which I'd used as an inner eye highlight.

Overall, I have to admit that while I'm very happy with my first TF palette and don't regret buying it after lusting after it for so many months, I'm not hysterically, over the moon ecstatic. I have more of an 'ooh nice' feeling about it rather than 'oh WOW!' Perhaps it's more understated than I was expecting? Perhaps I'd built it up in my mind that it had to be perfect? For such an expensive makeup item I guess I was expecting a little more of the magic beyond the sleek packaging itself - like it was made from the teardrops of a Tibetan Yak, or included diamond dust and the finish would be far, far superior to anything else in my collection...

As I've said these are my early thoughts and I will post an EOTD when I have another play with this palette.

What's your most expensive beauty purchase and how did it make you feel?

19 August, 2012

BYS Flirty Sparkle is a rather photogenic little nail polish! I'd expected it to look somewhat darker and redder when I bought it but this polish translates to a sweet raspberry ice on the nails. It's a raspberry pink base loaded with silver shimmer so as the name suggests it is rather sparkly and a bit girly. Enough talk, onto the extra large pics....

Outdoors shade

Sun

I'm off to cram some more activity into my weekend so that's it for now!

17 August, 2012

Antique Gold is one of a few LA Girl Metal polishes I bought some time ago - I think it was last year? - from Groove store in Melbourne Central which sadly is no more. Antique Gold is THE perfect name for this polish. When I picked it up to wear it was unlabelled and I decided it looked just like antique gold to me. One Google search later and I find out it's called just that, LOL! So, to describe this polish in a little more detail, it's a mix of antique gold flecks in a dark, almost black base. It applied beautifully in two coats and also removed rather more easily than I'd expected. I thought I was going to be in for a scrubbing session and this just wiped cleanly off. Gotta love that!

15 August, 2012

I'm getting a bit better at doing glitter gradient mani's so this is just about good enough to share with you.

I used the silver holo glitter mashup Servin' Up Sparkle from last year's Serena Williams Glam Slam! collection to glam up the shimmery teal Yodel Me on My Cell. I applied one coat of the glitter two-thirds up the nail, then added a second coat half the way up the glitter coat and a final coat of glitter just on the nail tips. I hope that makes sense?

This is the result. To perfect it and smooth it out I'd recommend a final layer of topcoat but this mani is photographed without. All pictures were taken outdoors in cloudy conditions:

14 August, 2012

I fell in love with my sample bottle of L'Occitane Ultra Rich Shower Cream last month and just knew I'd end up buying a full sized bottle as an indulgence. I'd normally consider $30 to be an extremely indulgent purchase for something that very quickly washes down the drain but as it happens Australian department store David Jones are running their spring beauty campaign and L'Occitane are offering a skincare GWP for L'Occitane purchases of $70 or more. So, I purchased the shower cream plus a new fragrance to add to my spring beauty kit and qualify for the gift which comprises a collection of Shea Butter products.

Ultra Rich Shower Cream (250ml)

I was driven to swearing like a silly person over how much I love this shower cream in my July empties post (here) and I convinced myself then and there that I deserved a full size bottle as a shower treat! I just love the ultra creamy texture, the scent and how soft my skin feels after showering with this rich concoction. Ultra Rich Shower Cream is part of L'Occitane's Shea Butter range and contains 5% Shea Butter as its key moisturising ingredient. As per L'Occitane's website Shea Butter hydrates the skin as it "...accelerates cell renewal and repairs the hydrolipidic film that retains optimal moisture levels and gives the skin its strength." Pffft! Whatever! I just love it okay?

Pivoine Flora Eau de Toilette (75ml)

Ah yes, this fragrance was the purchase to make up the $$ to qualify for the gift (at $59 for this bottle I well and truly went over the $70 minimum...). I like the simplicity of the pink glass bottle and the peony fragrance is actually quite a clean, not too overtly floral scent with a hint of "...green freshness". It's very much a soft and light everyday scent. I'm keeping this one for spring which is just around the corner.

Winter Survival Set (GWP)

As I mentioned this GWP is currently available at David Jones. To receive the gift I had to spend a minimum of $70 on L'Occitane including one Shea Butter product.

So what's in the gift bag (aka Deluxe Beauty Pouch)?

Shea Butter Hand Cream (30ml) - I've used this hand cream many times, love it and have gifted it to friends and family many times also because it's so luxe!